Door closing device



y 1949- I F. H. BARGER 2,470,283

noon CLOSING DEVICE riled Oct. 17, 1945 2 Sheet-Sheet 1 F5- IN! 22 ,6 ////////A :0 :4 '23 4 9 INVENTOR I; FRED H .BARGER v E JW-+JW 5 ATTORNEYS y ,1949. F. H. BARGER Q 2,470,283

7 DOOR CLOSING DEVICE Filed Oct. 17, 19.45 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 g- 4 fig. 5

INVENTOR FRED H. BARGER ATTO R N EYS Patented May 17, 1949 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 4 Claims. 1

The present invention relates to door closing devices and particularly to devices of the character that operate through purely mechanical elements.

Various types of door closing devices have been proposed in the art and many of them operate either pneumatically or electrically. In the case of pneumatic operation, piston arrangements are usually employed which involve air cylinders so that the entire structure is often bulky, expensive, and not altogether dependable due to the wear on the piston. There is also difliculty in adjusting pneumatic door closing devices, particularly when slight changes in the rate of closing are desired. While electrical door closing devices which usually employ a motor offer facility of adjustment, nevertheless they are expensive in initial cost and also in the installation.

The primary object of the invention is to provide a door closing device of a purely mechanical character and one that can be made inexpensively and readily installed on standard types of doors.

Another object is to provide a device of this character which lends itself readily to adjustment so that fine changes can be obtained in the rate at which the door is caused to close.

These objects are attained in brief by providing a rotary bobbin or cone shaped pulley structure which is caused to turn against the action of a. torsion spring or counterweight by pulling on a cord attached to tthe door so that on closing, the cone is rotated by the action of the spring or counterweight to bring the door into its closed position at any desired speed. The size of the conical portion of the bobbin or pulley as presented to the cord can be changed readily by simply swinging the axis of the bobbin with respect to the door frame, causing in effect the cord, to wind itself on the conical portion of the bobbin at such an angle as will increase the movement of the cord for each turn of the bobbin or pulley.

@ther objects and features will be apparent as the specification is perused in connection with the" accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 represents a perspective view of a door frame with a door hinged thereto and provided with the improved door closing device. The door frame is shown as being entirely removed from thewa-ll of: the house in order better to show the door closing device and its method of operation.

Figure 2 is an enlarged sectional view of the door closing device and its containers taken along thc line 2- 2 in Figure 1.

iii

Figure 3 is an enlarged fragmentary view of the adjustment feature of the door closing device with the various bolts and nuts in elevation.

Figure 4 is an enlarged horizontal sectional view of the improved structure taken along 4-4 in Figure 1 and showing the door closing device in one of its many positions, adjusted to give any rate of closing of the door. The various positions of the door during the closing operation are indicated by dot-dash lines and the latter also indicate the respective positions of the pull cord running between the door and the door closing device at the various positions assumed by the door.

Figure 5 is a view similar to Figure 4, but with the door closing device adjusted to a different position than that shown in Figure 4 in order to vary the rate of door closing.

Figure 6 is still another view similar to Figure l, but having the door closing device adjusted to still another position in order to affect the rate of closing.

Figure '7 is a vertical sectional view of a m'odlfied form of the door closing device, also showing portions of the" door frame.

Referring more particularly to Figure 1, the door frame is indicated by the two spaced wooden uprights I, each board being provided at its two vertical edges with a recessed groove 2", one of which is adapted to receive the edge of a solid door (not shown) and the other receives the frame of a screen door indicated at 3. The" screen door is hinged at 4a to the right hand vertical door frame I so that the door is adapted to move outwardly away from the lefthand frame member I to permit entrance into theroom of a house. It will be understood that the door frame forms part of a wall of a house, or other enclosure such as a barn, garage, in fact any place it may be desirable to apply a door, either screen or of solid construction.

The improved door closing device is contained within a box or enclosure 4, preferably made of metal and secured to a wide angular piece 5 which is bolted or screwed to the interior surface' of the door frame as indicated at 6. This box l is preferably located at a position nearth'e" top of the frame so that a person passing through the doorway will not strike his head. Extending outwardly from the box and received within the box through a wide opening there is a cord 1' which is attached to the door as indicated at 8. In practice, this cord may be taken through one or more eyelets fastened to the upper horizontal member (not shown) of the door frame, in order that the cord can be readily received by the door opening device contained within the box 4 without undue friction or rubbing eifects. The only element which extends outside of the box or compartment 4 is the cord 1, although when using the modified form of door closing device shown in Figure '7, a second cord may be dropped out of the box to which a counterweight is attached.

The details of the door closing device have been illustrated in Figures 2 to 6 inclusive, which will now be described.

The casing or box 4 may be made of metal and its end walls are provided with openings 9 which journal the opposite ends of a round bobbin or cone shaped member indicated at II]. This member is also preferably made of metal. Over a limited portion of its length, the diameter remains substantially the same as indicated at I l and then this portion merges into an inverted conically shaped portion l2, that is, the ele- 1;.

men-t l0 has the straight portion H, and then this straight portion merges into the small diameter portion of the conical portion l2 so that the cone becomes larger in diameter as the distance increases from the straight portion H, the cone is thus inverted relative to the straight portion H. The portion [2 is carried on a shaft [3 of considerable size which is turned down at its outer end to a smaller size indicated at M for insertion into the opening 9 of the casing. At

the opposite end there is a similar short length of shaft I l journalled in the casing. The peripheral surfaces of the member ID are preferably roughened as by knurling or if desired, by circumferential grooves so as to prevent a down- 5i."

ward shift of the cord along the conical surface as the cord is caused to leave the cone during the door opening operation. The large end of the conical member is provided with a torsional spring l5, one end of which enters an opening in the end wall it of the container and the other end fits snugly in an opening provided in the conical member In. Thus, when the latter is rotated in a direction such as to cause the spring it to tighten, the removal of the twisting effect will instantly permit the spring to rotate the cone in the opposite direction. The casing or container 4 rests on a support 5 which is adapted to be secured to the door frame as indicated in Figure 1. The container 4 can be rotated on the support 5 and for this purpose a pivot I! (Fig. 3) is provided extending through the bottom member of the casing 4 and the upper portion of the support 5. This pivot conveniently may take the form of a round headed bolt provided with a hexagon nut l8. The support 5 is provided with an arcuate slot H! which loosely receives a bolt 20 provided with a head 2|. The opposite end of the bolt 20 is threaded and there is a large washer 22 which extends over the slot l9 and a smaller washer 23 against which a wing nut 24 bears. When the nut 24 is loosened, the container 4 can be caused to move about the pivot ll carrying with it the bolt 20 which slides along the slot l9 and when the desired position of the container with respect to support 5 is obtained the wing nut 24 is tightened.

Referring to Figure 4, cord material 1 is wrapped a predetermined number of times around the cone portion and the straight portion of the rotary member, one end of the cord being attached to the door indicated at 8, after passing through any necessary guiding eyelets or over pulleys. The other end of the cord is conveniently secured to the member l0. A satisfactory way of attaching the cord is to provide a rectangular slot extending lengthwise of the straight portion ll and after layin the end of the cord in the slot a wooden wedge is pressed into the slot to hold the cord securely in position. The cord is applied to the member In in such a way that the cord leads off the conical portion of the member as the door is caused to open. If the door is assumed first to be in its closed position and then is opened through the various positions indicated by the dot-dash lines, more and more cord will be unwound from the member Ill and simultaneously the torsion spring l5 will be caused to tighten. When the door has been swung to its maximum opening, i. e. at right angle to its original closed position, the spring l5 will have been tightened to its greatest extent. When the pull or push on the door is relieved, the spring will cause the member H) to rotate, thus winding up the cord and in that manner the door is closed.

It has been found that when the simplest forms of tension springs are used for automatically closing the door, the spring exerts its greatest pulling effort on the door when the latter is wide open. Consequently, when the hand releases the door, the spring will give an abnormally strong pull on the door, producing an extreme acceleration at this time which causes the door to slam. However, in the case of applicant's improved door closing device the spring I5 is of a torsional character and as is well known the rotary effect exerted on the member If; is no greater when the spring is in a tightened condition than when it has almost returned to its torsion-free condition so that no greater effort is exerted by the spring in rotating the cone it when the door is Wide open than when the door is practically closed. In addition, as the door moves from its J wide open position to a partially closed position the cord tends to ascend the inclined surface offered by the cone portion l2 and due to the steadily increasing distance of this peripheral surface away from the axis of the cone as the cord moves up the cone, greater retarding effects are exerted on the spring l5. Consequently, the presence of the conical peripheral surface tends to slow down the closing motion of the door as the cord 1 ascends the conical portion of the member ID and the net effect is to cause the door to move in closing direction at a greater speed at the start of the closing operation than when the door nears the completely closed position. There can, therefore, be no slamming effect as the door strikes the frame.

The rate at which the door is caused to close can be nicely adjusted by swinging the casing 4 about its pivot 47 as was described hereinbefore and this condition is shown in Figure 5. The effect of this swinging movement is to alter the angle with which the axis of the conical member is presented to the cord I during the door closing operation so that practically all of the cord is now received by the smaller diameter straight portion of the member ID. Under these conditions, the surface which receives the cord 7 will remain at substantially the same distance from the central axis of the cone member throughout the entire door closing operation. This, in turn, permits a constant lever effect to be exerted at the peripheral surface by the torsional effect of the spring l5. The door will therefore be closed at a substantially constant angular velocity throughout the closing movement. However, a few turns of the cord will have begun to ascend the conical amazes portion l2 of the member In so that near the end of. the swinging movement of the door the lever effect exercised by the length of cord which surrounds the conical portion will have been increased and this inturn tends to decrease the force exerted by the spring IS. The closing speed of the door is, therefore, reduced at a position just before it strikes the door frame and no hard impact is encountered.

In Figure 6, I have shown still another position that the cone member it can be made to assume. Inthis case the container or casing 4' is swung to a different angular position than that shown in Figures 4 and 5 so that the axis of the member In is now pointed away from the hinged door as shown in this figure. When the door 3 iscaused tomove from its wide open position to its closed position, the greater portion of the cord Winds up along the conical portion 12 of the member ID and due to the ever increasing distance between points on the conical periphery and the axis of the cone, the force exerted by the spring 15 in effect hecomes less so that the door is moved to its closed position at a relatively slow rate. It is apparent that the upper wall of the casing 4 must be provided with a slot 28 sufficiently long to permit the cord I to enter the casing regardless of the position of the casing with respect to its support 5.

While I have described my invention from the standpoint of using cord material in connecting the door 3 with the surface of the member ID, it will be understood, that if desired, flexible wire rope of small diameter could be used. It is also evident that the cord or cable could pass over pulleys rather than through metal eyelets connected to the head J'amb of the door frame so as to obtain the greatest mechanical advantage necessary to close the door and also to give a fixed point in reference to angling the bobbin or cone member [0. In practice the number of turns of the cord which may be wound around each of the straight and conical portions of the member Ill should be determined by trial and error as this depends on the friction encountered at the hinges of the door as well as on the many other factors involved in the stiffness of closing the door. The weight of the door and direction in which it extends also affects the amount of force necessary to close it. In certain types of buildings and installations the door 3 may move in a horizontal direction instead of a vertical direction as in the case of garage doors, and again, the element 3 may take the form of the skylight window which is supported on horizontally positioned hinges. All of these factors should be taken into consideration to obtain optimum results and in this connection, the size and stiffness of the torsion spring as well as the diameter and the inclination of the cone member should be predetermined.

Instead of using a spring IS, a counter weight 29 (Fig. 7) may be employed to advantage, this counterweight being acted upon by gravity. When a weight of this character is employed, the loose end of the cord or cable is attached to the weight instead of being secured to the cone member in the slot 21. It is apparent that suitable openings 31!, 3| may be provided respectively in the casing 4 and the support 5 through which the downwardly extending cord can pass. The other end of the cord or cable is secured to the door in the manner described hereinbefore. It will be noted that the weight 29 exerts a constant pull of its own on the member Ill and th closing effort an outbuilding on a farm, it might be practical .to permit-the Weight to dangle in the open air.

To this extentthe device as a whole is rendered less expensive. Howevenin practice, particularly in the case .of home use, it will be found more :desirable to employ an actuator of the torsion spring type since the latter is contained in the same casing as member ID and the entire apparatus is self contained.

From the foregoing, it is evident that I have disclosed an object or apparatus which involves a new principle of operation in controlling accelerated motion while decreasing the acceleration over a portion of the movement of the object or apparatus so as not to permit the object to be stopped abruptly as would be the case in the slamming of a door when closed by the action of a spring or weight.

It will be understood that I desire to comprehend within my invention such modifications as come within the scope of the claims and the invention.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A door closing device comprising a casing containing a rotary element having straight and inverted conical portions, said element being journalled in said casing, a door closing cord wrapped over a predetermined part of said element, means acting on said element for resisting the rotation of the element when a pull is exerted on the cord during the door opening operation, and means for changing the angle with which said element is presented to the cord in order to cause the cord to wrap itself around a different part of the element during the door closing operation when the element is actuated by said rotation resisting means.

2. A door closing device comprising a casing swivelled on a support attached to a door frame, a rotary cylindrical element within the casing adapted to receive a cord, one end of which is secured to the door and the other end is secured to said element, said casing being adapted to be swung at said swivel to assume a different angular position with respect to' the door frame whereby a different part of the element is automatically presented to the cord as the element is being rotated during the door closing operation.

3. A door closing device comprising a casing swung on a support secured to the door frame, a rotary element in said casing having a straight diameter portion and an inverted conical portion, a cord wrapped about said element and attached at one end to the door and at the other end to the element, whereby said element is caused to rotate by the unwrapping action of said cord as the door is opened, means for rotating the element in the opposite direction when the pressure on the door is relieved, said casing being adapted to be swung about said pivot in order to present a part of the conical surface of the element to the cord during the door closing operation whereby the effect of said means which rotates the element in the opposite direction is lessened and the door is caused to close at a uniform rate of speed.

4. A door closing device comprising a casing having journalled therein a rotary element on which a cord is wrapped, said cord being attached at one end to the door and at the other end to the element, said element having straight diameter and inverted conical portions both of which receive the wrapped cord during the door closing operation and means for swinging the casing about the support in order to present greater or less amounts of the conical portion of the element to the cord as the latter is wrapped on said element, and means for rotating the element to cause the cord to wrap during the door closing operation.

FRED H. BARGER.

on the element 15 mber REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 7,132 Barnard Mar. 5, 1850 149,941 McKay Apr. 21, 1874 1,100,952 Bujewski June 23, 1914 1,186,720 Westhoff June 13, 1916' 1,736,784 Gloekler Nov. 26, 1929 1,881,114 Beeler Oct. 4, 1932 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date 1,283 Great Britain Jan. 16, 1912 116,347 Germany Dec. 19, 1900 600,609 Germany July 26, 1934 

